DVD-drive failing 14 replies

Please wait...

It has done some weird stuff in the last two years, but now it is finally going to live its last moments, but I still want to watch DVD's and install games while I'm saving for a Blu-Ray drive.

Basically, it works slowly, but only for like 5-10 minutes, then it just dies. It has been doing this for some time now, but yesterday when I was trying to install Hitman Blood Money, some error came up, something like "The DVD device has an I/O error".

So eh, it has an input/output error, but what can I do? I read on some sites found via google that I have to select "Only PIO" in the device manager under IDE device 1 or something, but I can't seem to find that option on Windows 7.

Also, everything on my pc is SATA, except for this DVD drive, so most of the things on the device manager are SATA stuff, not IDE?

Personally, i'd try cleaning the lens. If it's a hardware issue other than that, forget it. (Personally, i've never seen a software issue with regards to a rom drive, so i'm pretty certain it's hardware, and being sealed units it's difficult to do anything with them.)

When an optical drive goes, it's pretty much done for. Replacements are fairly cheap (at least, non Blu-Ray models are), to the point where it's not worth the time or money to attempt fixing a broken one as opposed to just buying a new one.

Yeah DVD drives, (esp combo burners) of ANY brand don't usually last very long. That goes double if you burn a lot with them. If you've had it over 3 yrs just consider you got your money's worth and replace it.

I had a Lite-On DVD combo burner that I kept for over 5 yrs. For the last two the tray would pinch discs sometimes while ejecting and it started having trouble reading what it burned. I kept it until other drives couldn't read what it burned. It still played DVDs though.

I recently got an ASUS for $23 at Newegg including shipping. I've seen lots of promo deals since for $18 - $20 though.

Interesting to note is you can actually do better on price buying a DVD burner AND Blu-ray player, vs a DVD burner with Blu-ray player built in. It also gives you the flexibility of still having one if the other fails.

I would seriously consider getting separate DVD combo and Blu-ray player drives. The former should set you back no more than $20, the latter around $60. That's US pricing of course, but as common as they are and as stable as the Euro is, I don't think you'll have a problem with pricing or availability over there either.

One thing you need to note about buying a Blu-ray internal drive. It doesn't pay to buy the retail vs OEM ones anymore because the player software they come with becomes old soon. That is because they keep changing the copyright protection keys on the Blu-ray movies. Unfortunately the retail Blu-ray software players you need to play the movies with don't let you update to new build versions for free either. It's caused a lot of people to either pirate the software or look for an open source alternative. Supposedly Media Player Classic Home Cinema can now play Blu-ray content though.

>Omen<;5405034
One thing you need to note about buying a Blu-ray internal drive. It doesn't pay to buy the retail vs OEM ones anymore because the player software they come with becomes old soon. That is because they keep changing the copyright protection keys on the Blu-ray movies. Unfortunately the retail Blu-ray software players you need to play the movies with don't let you update to new build versions for free either. It's caused a lot of people to either pirate the software or look for an open source alternative. Supposedly Media Player Classic Home Cinema can now play Blu-ray content though.

What what? I can't just play Blu-Rays with VLC media player on my pc? Just without ever needing to install any firmware or software? If I have to pay for this firm/software, I'll be skipping the Blu-Ray era.

I have a Blu Ray burner that I picked up at a bargin price because the twit that bought it couldn't understand how to install a firmware update and patch to the enclosed software.

It works perfectly, although I had to do a later firmware update so it could handle some very recently released film. It came with the Power DVD BD edition software, and as I say it's worked with the available updates for it.

The retail software players will work for a certain length of time, until they change protection codes on the Blu-ray movies. They'll still work for the movies made before the code change. There are reasons other than new protection keys to upgrade, I assume that was the case. Last I checked though PowerDVD does not allow new program versions free, which is typically when the first number of the build changes. I assume the protection will eventually be a non issue, maybe when Blu-ray equals or eclipses DVD in sales & rentals.

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